Alphabet of Drabbles
by PerianthLillithFae
Summary: A drabble for every letter of the alphabet. Just some cute things, maybe some serious ones but most are just fun! Chapter 21, 22 23: Understanding, Veritas Waves Now up! Please Review and make suggestions for new chapters :)
1. Absence

**Disclaimer: I'm not gonna write this every chapter so this one is for the whole thing: I DON'T OWN MERLIN! (I think that was pretty clear)**

**AN/: Some of these might be longer than a drabble is supposed to be but since I don't know how long a drabble is anyway, I figured it didn't really matter.**

Alphabet of Drabbles

*Absence*

Arthur woke up to sunlight streaming through the window and birds twittering outside. He groaned and cursed. Where was that lazy manservant of his? At that precise moment he heard knocking on the door.

"Enter" When Arthur saw the person he fought a groan and mostly succeeded. It was George…

"Sorry I was late Sire, your manservant is ill and the court Physician only just asked for me to replace him. I have already asked for breakfast to be sent up, I had someone sent to get you amour and I made sure that …" George trailed off when he saw that the King had already gotten up and had nearly done getting dressed. "Please allow me Sire!"

But the King waved him off as he finished, "Just tell my knights that I'll be a bit late to training." He walked out the door and said quietly to himself "I've got a certain manservant to check up on."

**Not my best work but I thought it would be sweet to show Arthur worried for Merlin! Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Brothers?

*Brothers?*

The knights grinned as they saw Merlin and Arthur coming down from the castle. They were in the middle of one of their little arguments and were presently calling each other names, which were getting more childish by the second. Their grins widened when they saw Merlin getting playfully shoved by Arthur to which Merlin retaliated by almost tripping Arthur up with a sword. Arthur made to shove Merlin again but it was dodged and Merlin quickly tried to scramble over towards where the knights were standing but Arthur grabbed his coat and shoved him in the direction of the castle. Merlin huffed but followed the obvious command.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Arthur" a female voice commented airily, once Arthur had reached them. This made the knights laugh, while the King just glared at them, telling them to shut up. He then turned to the Lady that had commented, noticing that it was Lady Caroline, who had only recently arrived.

"He's not my brother."

"A Lord, then?" This made all the knights snort which they tried and failed to turn into coughs. The Lady guessed again, "A knight?"

"No, Merlin couldn't wield a sword to save his life. He is my-" What he was about to say was cut off by Merlin's shouting of Arthur, who sighed and said "better go see what's wrong" and walked off after saying goodbye.

The Lady turned to the knights and asked who Merlin was, and was shocked by the answer,

"He's Arthur's servant"

**I always thought they acted like brothers. You know, Merlin being the annoying younger brother and Arthur being the slightly bulling but protective older brother.**


	3. Cold

*Cold*

"Merlin?"

"Y-y-yes, s-s-sire?"

"Can you please stop your teeth chattering, the bandits can probably hear us from a mile a way" Arthur sighed. Why did his father insist on having patrols in the winter?

"S-s-sorry, It's c-c-cold"

"No, really?" It was his own fault really why hadn't he put warmer clothes on? Then he realised that Merlin probably didn't have warmer clothes. He sighed again.

"Here, have this" Arthur took off his cloak and passed it over to Merlin. Merlin looked like he was about to protest, but the look on Arthur's face made him shut his mouth and put the cloak on.

"T-t-thanks"

"Couldn't have my servant freeze to death. We'd have no one to cook the food and collect firewood. Idiot."

"Prat"

**Arthur's being nice, what is the world coming to. Of course he had to have an insult in there somewhere.**


	4. Defeat

*Defeat*

Borgin quietly walked through the noble's wing of the castle. His master, Sir Richard, had been adamant that he no make a nuisance of himself while they enjoyed their stay for the duration of the tournament. He paused in his musings when he heard sounds coming from one of the rooms.

"Checkmate! Ha, I win!"

"Merlin…shut up"

_Merlin, where had I heard that name before?…Oh, he is the prince's manservant._

"Just let me bask in the rarity of your defeat for once, will you?" Borgin gaped, this Merlin fellow was going to be chucked in the dungeons for that insolence!

"I should have you put in the stocks for that comment." Borgin raised an eyebrow, _does this mean he isn't going in the stocks._

"But you won't, cos you like me too much" Borgin could hear the teasing tone in this statement "Admit it!"

"Merlin…"

"Yes Arthur?"

"…Get out"

Merlin just laughed and ran out the door, bumping into Borgin, while simultaneously ducking a flying boot. Borgin just stared incredulously, _What the…?_


	5. Egg

*Egg*

Arthur sighed as he worked through another report, one of the many stacked on his desk. His respect for his father went up a bit after seeing how much work he had had to do and still find time to do other things. He let loose another sigh just as his servant came in.

"Having trouble?" Arthur looked up and received the herbal tea he had just been given gratefully.

"Yeah, I mean who would have thought being a king was such hard work. I mean look at some of these reports. One of them is complaining how they need more storage space for the surplus of eggs we have just received. Can't they figure it out themselves?"

"Well I have a good idea what we could do with the spare eggs" Merlin grinned mischievously

"Oh?" Arthur replied, interested.

"Yeah,… I think Gwaine needs his hair washing and I have heard that eggs make a person's hair really shiny."

"Hmmm, … and Gwaine does love his hair being shiny" Arthur grinned before getting up to help his servant set up a prank, involving eggs, a door, string and a cat…

**AN/: Hehe I wonder what they would need a cat for? Tell me what you think, reviews are appriciated and if you think a chapter is bad, i wil do it again if enough of you think so. Just don't be horrible cos' if you don't like it then _why_ are you still reading? That's all for now, Folks!**


	6. Fight

*Fight*

"God, I am such a…"

"Clot pole, dollop head, prat, cabbage head? I can come up with more if you like"

"No thanks and you're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am on your side, but it doesn't mean I can't call you a prat when I think you are one"

"Thanks" there was a pause "what am I going to do?"

"Saying sorry usually helps though you may have to get down on your knees, give her some handpicked flowers and make her dinner. And actually make it yourself this time, not get me to fetch something from the kitchen."

"When did you get so knowledgeable, Merlin?"

"I don't know Arthur. Maybe I read a book"

Outside the room this conversation was taking place, Borgin (the servant) was listening on in confusion as the last statement sent both the Prince and his Manservant in fits of laughter. This was later followed by a crash and some swearing and even more laughter. _'I thought that castle would be at least a little bit saner when I started this job…'_


	7. Guilt

*Guilt*

They stood silently, staring at the spot where the most recent execution had taken place. This time it was a ma… boy really, only nineteen years old. Arthur turned his head slightly to peer at Merlin. The servant had an unidentifiable expression on his face and Arthur decided he didn't like it. He knew he would have to say something, _but what to say…_

"I'm sorry" He murmured, eyes returning to the black stain on the courtyard when Merlin jerked in surprise before looking at him.

"Huh?"

"I tried to get my father to release him but he just didn't listen. I'm sorry that I couldn't save him"

"It's not your fault, Arthur" Merlin spoke before his eyes lowered to look at the ground.

"And it's not yours either, Merlin" Merlin looked up at him, and Arthur was not surprised to see tears. He gently pulled the boy in for a hug and whispered to him.

"It never is"

**AN/: Bit of a sad one this time. The idea just wouldn't go away and I like it. Just a little thought into the idea that Arthur knows.**


	8. Hero

*Hero*

"Ar…thur" The name was forced out and was followed by several hacking coughs.

"Merlin! You're awake!" Arthur sounded relieved but then his voice turned scolding, "why did you do that! Jump in front of that spell for me!"

"…"

"M_er_lin"

"I was… working on being a hero?" Merlin half stated, half asked. Arthur got the reference to the conversation they had had after Merlin had gotten hurt before.

"Merlin"

"Yes Arthur?"

"Don't become a hero, okay?"

"Yes, Sire"

**AN/: Hope that was okay. Sorry for the long wait on this one, inspiration just wasn't on my side. The conversation I was referring to was the one in season 4 episode 6 "A servant of two masters" where Arthur says that you only get called a hero after you die. So he's basically saying 'Don't die'**


	9. Igloo

*Igloo*

Borgin shivered as we trudged through the snow and slush. Oh how he hated winter. He pulled his jacket tighter around him when he heard some laughter close by. He turned the corner and stopped to stare at the scene.

"Come on, Arthur!"

"No"

"But Gwen wants to as well"

"No!" But the puppy eyes from Merlin and Gwen were just too much… "fine, I'll build a stupid igloo"

"Yay!"

"But only because Gwen wanted to" Arthur said as he started to help shovel snow on to the half built igloo.

_I must have walked into another world. One where the King and Queen help servants build igloos. What is an igloo anyway? _Borgin thought but was soon distracted by a shout from the King's Manservant.

"Hey, want to join in?"

"…Sure"

**AN/: Just wanted to include Gwen in a few of these drabbles. Just so you know a few facts.**

**Arthur is King and Married to Gwen. Most of these are set after the fourth series. So no Lancelot :( **

**Arthur knows about Merlin's magic but hasn't lifted the ban on magic yet. Basically to stop a riot about it.**

**I may carry this on after the alphabet is finished and just keep going and repeating the alphabet. If I get lots of good reviews of course Hint Hint :)**


	10. Judge

*Judge*

"GWEN!" Gwen turned to see the group of Knights coming down the corridor. They looked very serious.

"Yes, what is it?" she said, wondering what they were up to.

"We need you to be the judge for our Prank War." She answered just by sighing and nodding. _No use in denying them _she thought.

"Okay, first one is Gwaine's prank. He balanced some gooey stuff in a bucket over the door and it landed on that new servant Borgin. Then there was Leon's Prank. He decided to put a load of marbles in Arthur's wardrobe and Percival and I teamed up and put itching powder in some of the Guest's clothes."

_Elyan always did love using itching powder. _She then said out loud "What about Merlin and Arthur?"

Gwaine turned a lovely shade of pink and put a hand over Elyan's mouth so he couldn't answer. Leon's mouth was still left uncovered though.

"They used a cat to lure Gwaine into the kitchen and then a bucket full of broken eggs fell on top of his head. If that weren't bad enough he slipped over and went tumbling in to the cook. She then spent half an hour scolding him and hitting him on the head with a spoon!"

Gwen just laughed. _Well done! Of course, they _did_ get it all from me._

**AN/: That was completely different to the idea I had planned but I just got a great review from _whitecrossgirl_ with a request to see what happened during Arthur and Merlin's prank on Gwaine. So this is thanks for the review! :)**


	11. Kansas

*Kansas *

"_Merlin" He looked around at the unfamiliar territory, still reeling from being transported by a magical wind._

"_Yes, Arthur"_

"_Where the hell are we?" Before Merlin could answer, a sudden movement behind them caught their attention. They turned to face it and saw a load of flying monkeys coming at them. They turned and ran through the forest being chased by the monkeys. Arthur pulled Merlin aside, behind a tree, and the monkeys carried on flying, without noticing them._

"_What the hell is going on here?" Arthur furiously whispered_

"_I have no idea" Merlin replied "But I can tell you one thing"_

"_What?"_

"_We're sure as hell not in Kansas anymore" _

Arthur jerked awake suddenly. 'That was a really weird dream. I need to stop eating cheese before bed' He thought before getting up. He turned the door just as Merlin walked in and asked,

"Where in the world is Kansas?"

"_What?"_

**AN/: I love writing these, they make laugh when I get random stupid ideas like this one. I do not own 'The Wizard of Oz'. **


	12. Lighter

*Lighter*

Arthur paused a moment before collecting as much courage as he could before knocking on the door to Merlin's room in Gaius' chambers. A soft reply that granted permission to enter was uttered by it's occupant and Arthur opened the door and stepped through.

"Hey" came the morose greeting from Merlin. "I'm sorry for walking out back there but I-"

"Don't worry about it I understand. I probably would have done worse, you know me" Arthur said, trying to get Merlin to cheer up. He sighed when he saw that it was not working and said "I'm sorry to hear about your Mother."

"Me too."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No, I-"

What Merlin would have said was chocked off by a sob and Arthur swept forward and gathered his friend in a hug. He didn't offer any promises that it was going to be alright or that it would get better because he knew Merlin would just hex him if he tried.

Once Merlin quietened down Arthur heard a quiet "Thank you". Arthur knew that Merlin would not be alright but he will get there. And Arthur would help him all the way, just like Merlin did for him. And knowing this made Arthur feel lighter.

**AN/: Was in a sad mood today so that equals sad story. For these drabbles I'm trying to do mostly happy with a few sad ones. God, that sounds like a weather forecast! Anyway let me know what you all think.**


	13. Magic

*Magic*

CRASH!

Borgin jumped, surprised by the unexpected, loud, noise. _What in heavens name was that?_ As he neared the room from which the sound had originated, a feeling of dread began to grow. _That is the King's chambers. What sort of insanity is it going to be this time?_

He unlocked the door and peeked through, his jaw hitting the floor as saw what was inside. Merlin, _the king's manservant, _doing magic and making things float! The door swung open further and banged loudly on the wall, causing Merlin tolook up and all the items floating to fall to the floor.

Borgin didn't even flinch he just continued to stare.

"…" Merlin opened his mouth but couldn't get the words out.

Borgin stared some more.

"It's not what it looks like!"

Borgin continued to stare and started backing out the room.

"Okay so it is what it looks like but Arthur already knows!"

Borgin ignored him and just walked away thinking _I need to get a new job away from this crazy place._

Merlin just stood in the middle of the room with items strewn around him and wondered "What's up with him?"

**AN/: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter but my motivation left me but I read all my reviews again today and it came back. Reviews do help writers, fact.**

**So what do you all think of this on. I love this idea and can just imagine the look on Borgin's face**


	14. Never

*Never*

Silence, punctured only by the screams from outside, invaded Arthur's ears. Merlin stared at him in disbelief and anger, but Arthur would not look away or give in. Finally, Merlin broke the silence.

"You want me to do _what_?" He ground out, as the room shook.

"I want you to stay behind" Arthur said before explaining his order, "I need to know that everyone I care about is safe Merlin and somehow you have slowly made your way into that category, so just do as I say"

Merlin just looked taken aback at how much the King had revealed. Arthur, satisfied that Merlin was too stunned to follow him and that he would take his words to heart, looked relieved.

"Thank you, Merlin, for everything." And he walked out of the room to face Morgana's army.

Merlin looked sad and whispered to himself "Oh Arthur, I thought you knew me better than that. I _never _do what you say"

Merlin took a deep breath. He followed Arthur.

**AN/: What is with the depressing ones you may ask, I find them easier to write. A psychiatrist may have something to say about that. Hmmm. Anyway, two chapters in one day as an appeasement for not writing for so long. Enjoy!**


	15. Order

**AN/: So this is sort of a follow on from the previous chapter, I'd suggest rereading that first if you've forgotten because of my stupidly long absence.**

*Order*

Arthur was broken out of his grief by a knocking at the door. He ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would get the message that he wanted to be left alone. The only person he wanted to comfort him was-

Arthur forced his mind away from that train of thought and stood up, intending to tell the person at the door (who had yet to give up knocking) to leave him. However before he could get there the door opened and through it walked Borgin, his new manservant, _his_ replacement.

"What do _you_ want?" He spat out.

"It's Merlin. He's-"Arthur didn't hear the rest of Borgin's sentence, as he had already rushed out of the room towards Gaius' chambers.

"Why did you do it?" Arthur asked, after a lull in the usual banter and insult that come after one of them nearly dies. "Why did you follow, I told you to stay behind. It wasn't an option, it was an order"

Merlin scowled before saying "Leaving you to go and fight an army all by yourself, yeah right"

"But you would have been safe" Arthur argued.

"Nice to see you care but…" Merlin trailed off before looking at Arthur, his eyes on the King's.

"Staying behind is an order that I will never follow"

**AN/: So how was this? Please review and tell me what you think and feel free to suggest any ideas. Sorry again the wait was so long but my writing mode just left me.**


	16. Proud

*Proud*

Hunith strolled through her village on the way home from the midsummer's festival. She had had a lovely time and had enjoyed catching up with al her friends. Ever since Merlin had been gone she had not had much reason to talk to many of the people in the village.

A small cough broke her out of her thoughts. She turned around to see Mary, a woman that was not well liked in the village as she was known to have notions of grandeur far above her station.

"Oh… Hunith, right?" She was also the mother of one of her sons many childhood bullies.

"Yes, that's right. How is Michael doing these days?"

"Oh, he is the manservant of a lord. In Camelot. How about yours… Merlin? Even with his clumsiness, I'm sure he at least got a job as kitchen boy"

Hunith was usually very mild and forgiving but when it came to her son… well

"Oh, your son is only the manservant for a lord? Well it's a respectably position I suppose but my Merlin has done very well for himself. He's the Court Sorcerer and_ friend _of the _King _of Camelot."

The woman soon excused herself after that, clearly embarrassed. There was definitely one thing Hunith always was, and that was proud of her son.

**AN/: This just popped into my head last night. I can imagine Hunith defending her son like this to his previous doubters.**


	17. Queen

*Queen*

"Mother, help!"

The childish shout was followed by a fit if giggles and laughter as the child was chased by her father down the hallways of Camelot's castle.

Gwen turned to see the source of the shout, smiling at the sight of her little girl being carried over her father's shoulder.

"Do I want to know why your father is chasing you around the castle, little madam?" She asked, still smiling but raising her eyebrow.

"This little rascal has just finished listening to Uncle Merlin's stories and she then told me she doesn't want to be a princess anymore. Ask her the reason why, go on, she won't tell me" He said pouting (not that he would see it as a pout). Gwen motioned to take the child from Arthur, and she settled her daughter on her hip before asking,

"Oh, so what does my little Eliza want to be instead?"

"I wanna be a Queen, mother! Just like you! Uncle Merlin said Queens are very important"

"And why's that, dear?" Gwen asked, amused

"'Cos they keep big prats in line!" Gwen just looked at Arthur's face and burst into laughter. After he had stormed off (with a growled, "_**Merlin**__!"), _she turned to her daughter and said,

"That's right sweetie, that's exactly what Queen's do"

**AN/: Sorry for the long wait. I just couldn't get the words to come out and I was sitting bored in a lesson and this just came spilling onto the page. I think it's cute, don't you**


	18. Real

*Real*

Merlin raced down to the great hall dodging other servants as he went. He'd gotten up late today as Gaius had already started on his rounds and hadn't been there to wake him up. He came to a sudden stop as he crashed in to someone and Merlin cursed as he fell over.

"Sorry, Borgin" Merlin said as he got up and rushed off again.

"Arthur's got a visitor with him at the moment!" Borgin informed Merlin's disappearing figure.

- x -

Merlin opened the door and peaked though and what he saw shocked him. Arthur and Gwen were sitting on their thrones talking to a woman that was facing away from Merlin. This wasn't what was shocking; many people came to see the King and Queen often asking for citizenship. No, what was shocking is that Merlin recognised her,

"F…Freya?" He asked disbelievingly. The woman turned around, her smile getting impossible wide when she saw who had asked her name. They both ran towards each other and Merlin swept her up in a twirling hug before putting her down and kissing her. They parted and he asked softly.

"H…how can you be….I thought…Are you really real?" He pleaded with his eyes for her to answer with a yes, that she was here and that she was never leaving again, and so she did,

"Yes, Merlin, I'm really real" She laughed as he grinned and kissed her again.

The moment was then almost interrupted by Arthur, asking "Er… what's going on? Do you two know each other then?" but the two lovers didn't notice and Gwen put her hand over his mouth so he couldn't interrupt the heart warming reunion.


	19. Snow

*Snow*

"It doesn't look like it will snow this year again" Arthur commented to Merlin as they sat working through harvest reports.

"And that's a bad thing?" Merlin wondered, as he had noticed the comment was said slightly sorrowfully. "I thought you hated snow, you mentioned something about it being 'pointless, troublesome and it cause a load of trouble… a bit like you Merlin.'"

"Really? I don't recall saying that. But yeah, I was looking forward to seeing Eliza's reaction to snow. She's never seen it before. Anyway no use dwelling, back to work"

Merlin nodded but he had a thoughtful look one his face. _It can't be too hard…I mean I've controlled it before so…_

- A week later -

"Look, Eliza, it's snowing! Shall we go get Uncle Merlin and then we can go and play in it?" Arthur started off towards Merlin's chambers but was stopped by Gwen.

"Merlin won't be able to come out with you today, he exhausted himself" Gwen explained.

"Doing what?" Arthur asked incredulously, "He's the most powerful warlock ever, what did he do to get so exhausted?"

"Well he said something about 'snow being harder to make happen than keeping it away'"

**AN/: Forgot to do one of these last chapter… oh well. Let me know what you think of this one and the last one. I already have another four of these written out so expect them to come out without such a long wait. :)**


	20. Tidal

*Tidal*

It came in and out of focus, like the tides of the ocean. Sometimes the world was in absolute clarity and he felt like himself again, felt like he could become the King that he once was, and restart his efforts in purging every last magic user from Camelot.

But with the clarity came the painful memories of his secret daughter's betrayal. The memories and feelings would then flee, pushed away by his desire to rid himself of the pain that came with them. And then the world would be out of focus again. A fog would descend upon his mind and he would know nothing of the outside world. The sound, smells and sights were muted, as if they were behind a thick sheet of glass that was covered in grim. His more poetic side, a side that he thought he had lost when Igraine died, likened the grim to the many mistakes he had made during his life.

He often thought, in his moments of sanity, that he should be scared of his mind disappearing for good, lost out at sea, in the fog or behind that sheet of glass. But the fog was almost comforting because it blinded him from the memories, the glass shielded him from the pain and the sea rocked him gently until he slept. As the months had worn on he had spent an increasing number of days with his mind far away from shore, out with the tide. Uther had decided that he would rather spend his life at sea, lost in the fog.

And lost he became.

**AN/: Well… Tell me what you thought of that, I want to know if this style of writing is well received. This sort of explains how and why Uther descended into madness, because it was never really shown in the series.**


	21. Understanding

*Understanding*

"You know Merlin, sometimes I don't understand you. I mean you really are the worst manservant that I have ever had and yet for some reason I still keep you around. Anyone else would have been fired by now, in fact, I have fired you and you still keep coming back."

Arthur was sitting by Merlin's bedside, trying to lay out his emotions. He knew he was rambling but it didn't really matter. _After all, I took the coward's way by saying this while he was unconscious._

"Maybe that's why I don't understand you. Through everything you always come back and I don't know why. Maybe one day I'll figure it out but I hope it's sometime soon cos' I want to know what I did to deserve a friend like you."

As Arthur turned to leave, Merlin opened his eyes slightly and said (although it was very difficult to make out)

"Because you were yourself around me"

**AN/: Sorry for the long wait, my creativity got channelled into painting instead. but do not worry… I have two more to give.**


	22. Veritas

*Veritas*

They sat at the campfire awkwardly and not speaking. One was determinedly stoking the fire while ignoring the other who was searching for a way to approach the topic that had caused their silence in the first place.

"Why…what….How long Merlin?" Arthur broke the silence first, not looking at Merlin.

"How long what?" Arthur scowled, he wasn't going to play along with this game.

"How long have you been using magic?" He looked at Merlin, as if daring him to lie and say that he couldn't use it, despite the fact that it would have been useless. Arthur had _seen_.

"Well I've had and been using magic my whole life but I only started to learn spells when I came to Camelot" Merlin spoke truthfully, not taking the dare.

"What have you been using it for?" Arthur needed to know, needed to know as much as he needed air to breathe, because it would decide the future of a friendship that, though he would never admit it, ensured his sanity.

"Mostly for saving your life and doing chores" Arthur almost rolled his eyes, _using magic to do chores… only Merlin._

"Mostly?"

"Yeah, well…" Merlin looked at Arthur, hesitating, before he held out his hand towards the fire in determination.

"_Draca_" Arthur watched in amazement as a fiery dragon appeared and flew around the clearing.

"I like using my magic for things like this, creation. This is what magic is for" Merlin whispered, changing the dragon into a bird and then a butterfly with a flash of gold.

"You really are a girl, aren't you Merlin"

Merlin just grinned, knowing that everything was going to be alright.

**AN/: Hope this was an okay reveal. Again sorry for the long wait but I hope three chapters at once appeases you. Veritas means truth in Latin.**


	23. Waves

*Waves*

The Pendragon family had decided to go for a tour in one of the neighbouring lands during the summer months. Eliza and Henry had insisted on Uncle Merlin being taken along as well (although with Henry, at only 16 months, it was hard to tell if he had actually insisted or if he was just shouting 'Unca Meri' for the fun of it)

"Come on Arthur, we'll have a sandcastle building competition! The beach will be great" Merlin pleaded. He was bored of the formalities of court two days in and didn't think he would survive another two weeks without a break.

"NO!" Merlin pouted and whispered to Eliza. She grinned and looked at Arthur pleading with her eyes.

"No… oh alright!"

"YAAAAY!"

Two hours later of hard work later and Team Royal (Arthur and Gwen) had finished and were feeling pretty proud of their castle and moat. They looked over to Team Unicorn's (Merlin, Eliza and Henry) castle and gaped.

"Hey, that's no fair…you cheated and used magic!" Arthur complained as he looked at the scale replica of Camelot made entirely of sand.

"You never said magic wasn't allowed as a building tool!" Merlin shouted before his eyes widened "Er… Kids we better run for it…your father is about to launch a tickle attack!"

As they made a mad dash back up the beach, yelling and laughing, the waves washed away the sandcastles but Gwen smiled thinking that '_nothing can wash away the memories'_


	24. XXI

**I'm really sorry for the long wait but university has been really busy and I was getting stuck for ideas. It is hard to do the last few letters in the alphabet.**

*XXI*

Merlin sighed as he watched yet another one of his friends avoid him by ducking into another corridor. This was not the way he planned spending the day. _Not that I had anything planned. I just wished for a peaceful, relaxing day._

Merlin continued walking towards his master's chambers, preparing himself for the long list of chores that Arthur had probably worked all morning on coming up with. He pushed open the doors to see Arthur sitting at his desk and Lancelot hurriedly whispering to him. Merlin was hurt to see them quickly stop as soon as they looked up and saw him.

"Hi guys, what were you talking about?"

"Nothing" "It doesn't matter" Arthur and Lancelot exchanged meaningful glances before Lancelot started towards the doors.

"I'll see you later Merlin" This parting sentence was ended with the doors closing.

"Yeah…. I'll see you"

Arthur saw that Merlin was looking on the verge of looking like a forlorn puppy that had its toy taken away and decided to put him out of his misery.

"Come on, Merlin….We have to go to the council room"

Merlin was feeling really confused as they approached the council room. He couldn't think of any reason as to why he was being led there. Arthur pushed open the doors and shoved Merlin through, hard enough to make him stumble, but before he could turn and complain, he was startled by a shout of…

"SURPRISE!"

"Happy Birthday!"

Merlin grinned and turned to face Arthur,

"Did you plan all this?"

"Yep, couldn't let my best friend have a mediocre 21st birthday. It would make me look bad!" Arthur explained, looking mock insulted.

Merlin just smiled, happy he had such a great best friend. The touching moment was broken by Gwaine,

"Now let's have some cake!"

**AN/: Hope that was okay, I really do sympathise with others who do alphabet drabbles and get to 'xyz'. Hopefully the updates should come quicker now that I'm settled into Uni.**


End file.
